echo chambers and design
In the Information Age, living in a globalised world with all the tools we have at our fingertips, it is easy to take discussing design productively for granted. After all, what characterises this current moment in history is being connected to other people, to their ideas and their data. We assume that our views are broader than those from the designers of the past, assuming that it is easier to interact with other thinkers should allow us to have more enlightening debates, but that may not be the case. The trap that we are falling into progressively every day it’s what’s called an echo chamber. An echo chamber refers to the social or knowledge bubble we create when we surround ourselves with people, books or articles that reflect and reinforce our own opinions by supporting preexisting beliefs without presenting other possibilities.
As these bubbles are filled with like-minded people to ourselves, they may initially sound like a perfect environment for productivity, but on the contrary, they create limitations we should push out of. Echo chambers can distort our perspective, making it harder to understand opposing viewpoints and challenge our capabilities of discussing complicated topics. They restrict objectivity, creativity and intellectual growth, which are critical attributes any designer should aim to develop. Currently this phenomena is being heavily linked to politics and online social media, but its ramifications directly affect design, design discussion and the offline world too. Something as primary as understanding current or future trajectories might be impossible if we are unknowingly isolated in our own bubble where things seem to be pointing in a single direction.
The first step in identifying that we are trapped is trying to find opposing opinions to ours around us, much like scientists do when trying to prove an hypothesis. We should remember that the way we, and our peers, see the world, is only a fraction of the truth and that is why keeping critical design discussions alive in an interdisciplinary and diverse way is of such importance. As social and connected entities, one of our biggest strengths is the ability to analyse and debate together in order to solve problems and improve our surroundings. We should not waste the opportunity to grow as a collective through compartmentalising and segregating our intellectual reach by limiting ourselves to only having comfortable interactions. If we want to keep growing as designers, as a community, as humans, we need to build over our foundations from opposite and diverse directions, hopefully bringing us collectively forward.
author
Raised in southern Spain, Víctor left home at 17 to study engineering in Madrid. Almost a decade later he found his true passion in design, which he pursued by moving to Copenhagen where he got his B.Sc in Product Development. Currently finishing his MA in Industrial Design at Lund University, Víctor likes to describe himself as having a Spanish heart and a Scandinavian brain. He has exhibited his work in cities such as Stockholm, Copenhagen and Paris.
first published for projektado magazine issue 0: why discuss design today? / january 2021
